Closure for vessels.



J. OONLBY.

CLOSURE POE VESSELS.

APPLICATION mum 0012.22, 1909.

Patented June 11, 1912;

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JOHN CONLEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGIBIOR TO CONLEY FOIL COMPANY, OFNEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CLOSURE FOR VESSELS.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June Ill, 1912.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, JOHN CoNLEY, a citizenof the United States, residing at'New .York, in the county of New Yorkand State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements inClosures for Vessels, of which the following is a Specification.

This invention relates to improvements in a closure for bottles, jarsand the like constructed of a thin, film-like sheet of yielding, ductilematerial, preferably tin-foil, and to a vessel having such closureapplied thereto.

In the packaging of food and food products, milk being a suflicientillustration, closures designed to be used but a single time have beenproposed, and generally such closures have been in the shape of disks ofpaper or paper-board adapted to be pressed into the neck of the bottleor other container and provided with various contrivances to facilitateremoval when it is desired to remove the contents or a portion of thecontents of the vessel. Of necessity in selecting and closing vesselswith such disks the fingers of the one who selects and applies theclosures come in contact with the surfaces thereof, which subsequentlyare exposed either to the interior wall of the mouth of the vessel or tothe contents of the vessel. In the manipulation of such closures,therefore, opportunity for possible contamination, which it is now wellrecognized should not exist, is present.

By my invention I provide a closure which is so economical, both as tomaterial, manufacture and application, that it can be supplied for asingle use only and be then discarded, which can be selected and easilyapplied without the fingers of the operator coming in contact with anyportion thereof exposed either to the contents of the vessel or thevessel itself.

jv novel'vessel-closure and vessels having such closure applied theretoas hereinafter fully explained and then pointed out in the claim.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein Figure1 is a sectional view of the closure, Fig. 2 a top plan View thereof,Fig. 3 a sectional view of the mouth of a vessel, Fig. 4: a sectionalview showing the closure applied to the vessel, Fig. 5 a viewillustrating the closure in perspective as the same is grasped by thefingers of the operator in selecting and applying the same to thevessel, Fig. 6 an elevation showing a number of closures nestedtogether, Fig. 7 an enlarged view showing the facility of application ofthe closure to a vessel, afforded by the flaring walls of the former,and Fig. 8 a similar view showing the Practical difficulty ofapplication of such a closure having parallel inner and outer walls.

In the said drawing, the reference numeral l designates the closuregenerally. The same is composed of a thin, film-like sheet of yieldingductile metal, tin foil being suitable and preferred. The closure isfashioned to provide walls 2 and 3 to engage the exterior and interiorwalls 4, '5, of the mouth of a vessel 6 and a bridge to fitclosely tothe rim of the mouth of the vessel, and a central depressed disk 7housed in and closing such mouth. The ductile material of which theclosure is. formed is of such thin film-like character, such as tinfoil, that should the edge of its outer wall come into contact with therim of the vessel applied to the vessel easily and quickly withoutdanger of being deformed in so doing, as shown in Fig. 7

To further facilitate the application of the film-like sheet closurewithout damage thereto, the rim or neck of the vessel may becorrespondingly tapered as shown at 9.

The diverging walls of the closure also enable aquantity of the closuresto be nested together as shown in Fig. 6, in which form theymay beshipped and handled without danger of distortion or deformation.

A further advantage of the flaring walls consists in the fact thatwhenthe closure is i applied to the vessel, and is to be secured thereinas hereinafter described, the flare provides a slight surplus ofmaterial Which enables the walls to be pressed into-the interior andexterior grooves in the neckof the vessel to secure the closure in placeand constitute a complete annular seal, without appreciably stretchingthe material.

The closure described is very economical, so economical that it isintended to be used but a single time and then discarded, and at thesame time, by reason of the formationdescribed, the fingers 'of the onewho selects the closure and applies the same to the mouth of the vesseldo not come in contact with any portion of the closure exposed either tothe surface of'the containing vessel or to the contents of the vessel,the fingers of the operator coming in contact merely with the outer faceof the exterior wall of the closure during the operation of selectingand applying the same to the vessel as shown in Fig. 5. So the closureis a perfectly sanitary one.

The neck of the vessel at or adjacent the mouth thereof is provided withan inner,

continuous, annular groove 10 located atsuch a distance from the rim ofthe mouth of the vessel that when the closure is applied thereto thegroove will face the inner wall of the closure intermediate thedepressed disk and the bridge 11. The neck of the vessel is alsoprovided with an outer, continuous, annular, groove 12, so located withreference to the rim of the mouth of the vessel that when the closure isapplied thereto it will be opposite,substantially, the free edge of theexterior wall'of the closure, and when said wall is pressed into theexterior annular groove to form a complete exterior, annular seal, thefree edge thereof will be housed in said oove. .This is a matter ofimportance in a closure con-' structed of such thin film-like materialas that which is the subject of this invention, because thereby the edgeof the wall will not lie outside the surface of the neck of the vesselwhere it would be exposed and liable to he accidentally engaged by someforeign object, or otherwise in handling, and the closure loosened ortorn destroying the perfectnoss of the seal.

WVhon employed as a closure for a milk jar or bottle the closure will beconstructed of pure tin foil contact of the'milk with which will notaffect the milk in any way.

When fitted over the mouth of the vessel 1 also an additional seal.

the closure is secured therein by means of any I suit-able device, onesuitable type of .sel and forms a perfect seal against the entrance ofdust, bacteria, or any foreign substance or body. Where an annularinterior groove is also utilized the pressin of the inner wall of theclosure therelnto affords an additional securing means and By reason ofthe thin film-like sheet of ductile material of which the closure iscomposed, the operation of spinning the walls thereof into the groovesin the neck of the vessel serves to draw the metal of the closure intoclose intimate contact with the rim and the interior and exterior wallsof the mouth of the vessel, making unnecessary the interposition of aspecial sealing medium, as has been the practice in the past, the simplethin ductile closure itself closely hugging the mouth of the vesselserving efliciently to close and seal the vessel,

The invention provides a closure for vessels so economical in respect ofcost of material, manufacture and a plication that it maybe used but asingle t1me and then cast away as is the case with the paper disk typeof closure. At the same time it presents the feature of sanitaryadvantage in respect of handling and application to the vessel which isabsent from the paper disk closure. When applied it hugs closely theexterior and inter1or walls of the rim or neck of the 'bottle or mouththereof which together with the continuous annular holding and sealingconnection produced by the spinning or pressing of the material into theannular grooves of the bottle neck forms a very perfect seal againstforeign material finding entrance into the vessel. The closure by reasonof its thin film-like ductile character also serves as a means ofdetection should the contents of the vessel be tampered with, because inremoving the same, should such removal be attempted, the closure wouldbe more or less distorted and could not be again applied and forced orpressed into the grooves of the vessel neck without showing evidence oftampering. At the same time the domestic may, by manipulating theclosure, remove it and replace it as a cover or closure when it isdesired to remove a portion of the contents only.

What I claim is,

A vessel provided near its mouth with annular interior and exteriorgrooves arranged in different planes, and a closure consisting of a thinfilm-like sheet of yielding, ductile material comprising a central,depressed disk, and diverging inner and outer Walls connected by abridge, the outer Wall of the closure continuously and closely engagingand housed in the exterior annular groove of the vessel mouth, and theinner Wall in engagement With the annular interior groove of said mouth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing wit- 10 nesses.

JOHN CONLEY.

Witnesses:

JOHN A. TREANOR, JOHN S. CLUNE.

